OF THE POLAR SEA. 



71 



subject ; the more so as I thought he might 

 render greater service to us by making 

 deposits of provision at certain points, than 

 by accompanying us through a country 

 which was unknown to him, and amongst a 

 people with whom he was totally unac- 

 quainted. My intentions were explained to 

 him in detail, but they were of course to be 

 modified by circumstances. 



On the 14th a robin (turdus migratorius) 

 appeared ; this bird is hailed by the natives 

 as the infallible precursor of warm weather. 

 Ducks and geese were also seen in num- 

 bers, and the rein-deer advanced to the 

 northward. The merganser (?nergus ser- 

 rator), which preys upon small fish, was the 

 first of the duck tribe that appeared ; next 

 came the teal {anas crecca), which lives 

 upon small insects that abound in the Waters 

 at this season; and lastly the goose, which 

 feeds upon berries and herbage. Geese 

 appear at Cumberland House, in latitude 

 54°, usually about the 12 th of April ; at 

 Fort Chipewyan, in latitude 59°, on the 

 £5th of April ; at Slave Lake, in latitude 



